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Star Tours

Venus passes near the Pleiades star cluster this weekend in what will be a pretty sight to the unaided eye or with binoculars, once the sky is fully dark. The planet and star cluster are a quarter of the way up the western sky at 8:30 p.m. Tonight, Venus is five degrees below the cluster. They are at their closest Monday when Venus is less than three degrees to the left of the cluster, shown above. They then separate as Venus moves to the east.